Silence is the key
by PoohAndHoneyToo
Summary: Gilbert, after a life of terror and torture, finds himself mute and taken in by who he perceives as a blond angel: Matthew. How will Matt deal with his new housemate? Will he ever track down the monster responsible for Gilbert's lack of voice and many injuries? Gore, and it's generally not the happiest of stories.
1. Chapter 1

It was dark. So, so dark. The trees surrounding him were dense, loose hanging branches whipping his face, arms and legs as he ran through, tearing his skin painfully. He pressed on, not daring to take a look back. In the shadows behind he him knew loomed something horrible... Something evil and menacing. Something that would torture his already dying body and something that would laugh as his red eyes welled with tears. He'd never known anything different. Kindness was unknown to the boy. Anything other than pain, anguish, anger and misery was unknown to him; foreign just like the world beyond his forest.

He made a sharp left, running as fast as his long legs could carry him. He knew it was futile. No matter how quick he went, no matter how stealthy, the thing would always find him and hurt him some more. It had happened when he was 8. When he was 11. When he was 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and now once more at the age of 17- or so he assumed. He knew not how to speak in any language other than screams; he knew not how to interact with any other human being and didn't even know of the existence of other human beings.

One branch led to his doom. He tripped over it, falling face first into the dirt floor. He scrambled to stand on his feet once more, only succeeding in crawling to the bottom of a tree trunk, his scarred back leaning against the rough wood. His miserable eyes darted from side to side, up and down in search of it. He learnt never to feel relief and never to show weakness. The thing /always/ found him. No matter what.

A moment of anticipation, the forest in a deafening silence. His breath escaped quickly, ragged and frightened as he curled up into himself and then it was there. The thing. The monster. Tall, a face so horrifying it cannot be described. Its body arched forward, face inches from the boy's. Its breath rank with the smell of death and decay. Its green, matter fur pressed to Gilbert's bare legs and it snarled. Clawed fingers forced Gilbert's chin up, scrutinizing the boy's face with blank eyes.

If a tree falls in a forest and nobody's around to hear it, did it make any noise?

The answer is yes. A hoarse cry pierced the night, the birds flying away in fright and cawing madly as the bloody mess.

And then, he was alone. It had gone. He no longer made a noise. His heartbeat so dull. His body mangled and his lips letting not even the tiniest breath escape.

The boy who could not speak; who knew not of other humans and only knew pain could truly no longer speak again. His mouth sewn shut with a thread so strong, yet so thin. A metallic thread, passing multiple times through his upper and lower lips, his face now coated in blood as red as his dull eyes.

Gilbert had nothing. He had no one and was abandoned by the only thing he could ever call a guardian, one last momento of their time together being his lack of voice.

* * *

Where the darkness could be one mans nightmare, the thing that held his worst fears come to life; it could be another mans comfort. It could be something he looked forward to, the thing that allowed him peace and tranquility because that man knew nothing to fear in the darkness. Where one may dread it's approach the other may wait patiently for it and welcome it with open arms.

Such was Matthew's feelings on the night. He'd lived alone mostly and never knew anything to be feared in the dark. As he sat on the porch he found serenity in the silence. Had he been in bed he most likely would have been asleep within the hour but it just happened to be one of those nights where he couldn't quite reach sleep. Reading his book as he pet his dog in the silence nothing could have prepared him for what came next. His dog had begun growling, poised for attack on whatever creature or person that might reveal them self but that wasn't what alarmed the blond.

What alarmed him was the shrill shriek that had come from the forest behind his house had been enough to instill fear where it had never been. In his fear he'd dropped his book and shrank back as if to make for his house should anything come out from the dark. It was confusing, to say the least, when normally it was peaceful. Supposing Matthew was a normal person he probably would have went inside and stayed within the safety of his home but, a it turned out, he was nowhere near normal and decided to pull on the hood that he had laid next to him. It was a cold night and he didn't expect to be out long but the hood was just in case. he picked up the lantern that kept the immoderate area around him lit and was off in search of what had caused the sound.

Lantern in hand, unfortunately without anything but his loyal companion to defend himself, he walked quickly and quietly. He only meant to satisfy his curiosity; nothing more but perhaps a walking stick of sorts, something to clear his path, would have been helpful now that he thought. It wasn't too late to turn back yet but by now his feet were moving of their own accord. He felt drawn to whatever it was that had made the sound and he was determined to find out.

Coming across a small clearing, something strangely new as could be told by the freshly knocked over shrubs. Holding the lantern a little higher he gazed around, brows furrowed together in confusion. He was about to pass it off as nothing, simply an enigma or an isolated incident of sorts until something caught his attention in his peripheral. The dog was already on it, it's ears pressed back in defense as the hairs on his neck bristled. Before it could act Matthew advanced. Passing a hand on the animals back to sooth it as he came closer to the thing that had caught his attention.

Once he was close enough he realized it was a person. One who was huddled up and looked beyond frightened. "Are you alright?" Matthew asked warily, his free hand shooting to cover his gasp as the light revealed the state that the other was in. Bloodied rags, nearly starved, with lips sewn shut.

Where the darkness could be one mans nightmare, the thing that held his worst fears come to life; it could be another mans comfort. However, it didn't take much to make it just the same for the other man. Matthew was frightened, not only for himself but for the other. Without thinking he set the lantern down and shrugged off his hood to offer it to the other. "Here. Take this... It's freezing out here!" He murmured in a soft voice. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten the other, especially since he didn't know if he was understood or not. He supposed he would just find out the hard way since he's long since destroyed his plans to satisfy his curiosity and gotten into much more.

* * *

**Pooh: Gilbert's POV was written by me, as stated in our bio, and Matthew's POV was written by Honey! She checked all of this once more. This'll be a slightly more dramatic than usual story, so enjoy. And for now, Gilbert's 'guardian' shall remain anonymous *wink wonk*  
****Honey: vvv Because Honey's a butt she refused to write anything here :I Wow Honey. Wow. **


	2. Chapter 2

The darkness was consuming him. He felt as though he could see nothing in the thick of the woods, even the slightest of sounds made him flinch. It hurt. It hurt so much to even breathe. He whimpered, tried to cry out but no sound was released from his mouth. He breathed heavily through his broken and bloody nose, body wracking with the intense effort. His face remained skewed in horror and terror. Abruptly, he heard branches cracking in his direction and scrunched in on himself, as painful as it was. He hid his face, his hands.. Tried to become as small and unnoticeable as possible, but it was no luck. He could hear shaky breathing, and peeking one red eye out, could see the silhouette of something that looked like him... Hoping that this wasn't a threat, and far too trusting for what he'd been through, he raised his head, forcing his eyes to adjust to the bright light before him.

A foreign tongue escaped the other's pink mouth, and GIlbert could only stare. He didn't understand. Who.. /What/ was this being that looked like him? The other had two legs, two arms... No tail. Nothing that resembled the beast once known as the albino's guardian. He tightened his ball of a body up, muscles tensing and spazzing in his legs with the effort.

Almost as fast as the other had come, he set down the strange light device and pulled off a body-coverer, more commonly known as clothing. The body-coverer appeared thick, sturdy and warm for the deathly winters in the forest and Gil wondered idly if his 'counter-part' resided near here. Regardless, he flinched away, expecting to be hit or something much worse. Neither of those happened though. Instead, he heard the other begin to mumble strange sounding things quietly over and over again, like a mantra. The tone was soft and alluring, and Gil realized the other was trying to help him. He was not a threat. Despite this, Gil was very hesitant and cautious in opening his body. The torn and bloody rags still on his body draped off the skinny fram, the larger body-coverer being placed upon his boney shoulders looked gigantic on him.

Slowly, the other thing held his hands out to the red-eyed man. He stared at them for a moment, wondering what he was supposed to do. He could barely move a muscle anymore, every inch of his body burning. The pain was apparently reflected in his expression and eyes, however, as the hands were moved to make their way under and around Gil's tiny frame. The albino man panicked, flailing around as much as possible as his eyes widened, but looking into the face of the stranger was like bliss. The other simply radiated concern and safety; or at least, what GIl thought was concern and safety. It wasn't sadistic and hurtful looking, that's for sure.

The light device was picked up by a strange white thing following the two, and Gil fought the urge to cry out at it. He'd seen squirrels, birds and mice. Bugs too, but canines were yet another thing foreign to him if you didn't count his keeper. Either way, he wouldn't be able to utter a sound from his bleeding mouth. Slowly, the drowsiness of blood-loos caught up to Gil, and he began to slump against the stranger's shoulder. His eyes were drooping despite his constant agony and he could feel his body going limp. The last thing he took note of in his semi-conscious mind was that his seemingly 'twin' smelled good... Like the forest after a rainfall and pine-needles.. Like a burning and warm fire and like something sweet... Tree sap, perhaps?

* * *

It was several days later that Gil awoke, and not in his cave either. He awoke to see bright lights illuminating the enclosed area he was in. He awoke to the comfiest place he'd ever slept and to the cleanest he'd ever felt. He awoke to something external, yet so mundane and domestic it would be considered average to anybody else. Not only that, but he awoke to noticing that, while his body was stiff, it felt better than ever. He was still skinny, rib-cage prominent and bones clear everywhere, but he noticed himself covered almost from head to toe in strange white leaves. Or what he assumed were leaves. They felt much like the bizarre fluffy thing he was sleeping on.

An instant later was when things set in and he panicked. He tried to scramble out of what he'd later learn was a bed and attempted to get out of this scary closed up cave-but-not-a-cave and would instead tumble out of the bed and onto the hardwood floor, pain shooting throughout his body and the many casts encasing him creating a loud thunk as he landed. He could hear hurried steps approaching him, but for the life of him could not move. All of a sudden, a part of the wall burst open, and Gil had a stray thought as to why the whole cave hadn't collapsed when one part had just come out. The doorway revealed someone much like him; someone the albino had a vague recollection of, but fear still shone in his eyes as he lay helplessly on the ground, the stranger staring down at him with an unreadable expression.

* * *

****Though he knew he probably shouldn't have Matthew felt guilty. He hadn't personally wronged this waif personally but he looked so... abused. It made his heart ache for the other. Just the face that he looked half mystified and half fearful of Matthew's cloak made questions run wildly through his mind. More so than what were already. Where had he come from, how long had he been out here, like this even? Perhaps he could inquire later he decided, gently rubbing the shaken males shoulders and cooing softly to him.

Matthew wasn't able to tell if his shaking was due to cold or fear but either way he was concerned and would definitely not leave him here. Granted he didn't know this person but the blond was a kind soul and not one to turn away another being in need. Much like his canine companion who'd whined softly from his spot on the ground next to pair and earned Matthew's attention for a moment.

Glancing out into the ebbing light where it met the dark Matthew's eyes narrowed. He hadn't had reason to fear the vast woodland area surrounding his house before and he certainly wouldn't start now he decided with an exhale of determination. He stood and offered his assistance to the man before him to receive a blank, pained look for his effort. "I'm sorry, you probably can't, can you..." He mumbled softly, slowly helping the man up. Not without a struggle which he'd expected of course. "Shhh... It's okay..." He uttered quietly, attempting to be reassuring as he held the other. From the response he got he assumed it was well received. He didn't expect the other to be as heavy as he was which may have been from his soon unconscious state he realized when he stole a glance.

Matthew hoisted him gently a little and half carried the man back to his home, his loyal dog carrying the lantern and lighting up the whole way for them. The dog deserved a week of treats Matthew thought with a faint smile.

The blond had called a doctor who was able to make the trip to his rather out of the way home and patched the malnourished man up as best he could. The doctor deemed the stitching around his mouth, which amazingly turned out to be a fine wire, too dangerous to take off and may have to remain on indefinitely much to Matthew's distress. He spent the next few days caring for the bedridden sickly man, which went unadvised by the doctor, the authorities and his family. None of them could understand he knew. The fear he saw, the desperation. Matthew needed- no, he wanted to help and so he did. So against everyone's wishes Matthew fed (which surprisingly came easy as there were a few gaps in the stitching he was able to slip a straw through), bathed, clothed, and aided the man. He was embarrassed but he did his duty regardless.

In fact. It was while Matthew was in the kitchen making himself something to eat when he'd heard a loud thump. He'd taken to staying by the mans side for hours on end, only leaving if absolutely necessary, and often forgot to eat himself. It was for reasons such as that moment. It made his heart jump and he immediately dropped the plate in his start to dash upstairs. Nearly tripping over his own two feet he threw the door open and easily found his guest with a panicked look. "Oh no, no..." He mumbled softly, slowly padding over and looking him over without touching him. "Are you alright? You're not hurt are you...? Ah... C-Can I...?" Hesitantly he reached a hand out to touch his leg. It had been fractured when the doctor came and he wanted to be certain nothing had been misplaced by his tumble.

Repeating his gentle examination in a few areas he sighed in relief, offering him a small smile. "You're lucky. I won't have to call the doc...tor." Matthew found himself frowning at the obvious expression if confusion he was given and bit his lip. He probably didn't understand he realized but decided he would continue anyway so the other might be able to pick it up as long as he was there, complete with hand gestures to indicate what he was trying to say. Perhaps the time he spent talking to the other in his unconscious state might pay off. "I'm going to help you up now." He said, holding his arms out to gently wrap around his counterpart as he'd done when they first met and helping him up. It was difficult but he managed to deposited the other onto the bed (after a bit of coaxing) and smiled again.

He shifted awkwardly and tucked some hair behind his ear, unsure of what to do or say. Who knew it would be easier talking to someone asleep rather than awake? "Ah... Hi. I'm Matthew." He greeted with a small wave.

* * *

**Pooh: As usual, Gilbert's parts are written by me and Honey wrote Matthew's bits. Hope you're enjoying it so far! It will be kind of basic for a little while, with the two of them getting into the swing of things, but eventually the pace should be picked right up with some creep-tastic stuff ;) **


	3. Chapter 3

In his now numb and confused state, the albino stared up at the other man, eyes wide in fear and curiosity. He did not struggle as he was once again scooped up and placed on the bed, covers and all, and instead could only stare. It was lighter than it had been the night he was found, and he was now fully conscious, so for the first time he could truly see his saviour Gilbert had never seen anything remotely close to beauty; the animals he'd seen were cute, sure, but he was never permitted to see the night sky unless he was running. This was the first time he'd ever seen another human, and said human was beautiful. Obviously more than just on the outside, judging from his extreme willingness to help the ruined red-eyed man. He stared at the flawless face of the blond, almost mesmerized. He barely heard the bizarre mumble from his pink mouth, only understanding a few words here and there.

When Gil lived with his monstrous keeper, he'd learnt two languages. One that was of the demons, a spew of clicking and strange tongue movements and the other was bits and pieces of English. The prior was a harsh language, and for anyone who'd not grown up with it it would seem horrifying. As for English, many insults were thrown his way, making it so that he only knew horrible phrases and some of the basics.

He watched like a child as the blond moved his hair, managing to comprehend that this 'other-him' was introducing himself. The albino nodded, and, feeling brave, attempted a smile. It hurt his newly stitched lips, making the smile appear more like a wince. Raising a hand slowly and steadily, he felt the tight metal. It was flexible, but not enough to allow it to easily break. Thin and relatively clean, he wondered how he would eat. Aside from all that, Gilbert wanted to be able to communicate with this Matthew. He wanted to learn things about the pretty male and he wanted to be a part of this fluffy and warm world. Something that Gil was so unused to...

He shivered a bit, cautiously pulling up the blanket before freezing, realizing that he may have crossed a boundary. He'd had close to no freedom before this man, and didn't know if he was allowed to do a lot of things. The albino braced himself to be hit, clamping his eyes shut and pressing his teeth together. He waited. And waited. And waited, and waited but nothing came. Opening one eye, he gazed strangely at the blond, uncomprehending, interested and somewhat content. While he admired the looks and felt such a curiosity for the other, he knew that this man may have ulterior motives and intensions. He watched as Matthew slowly made his way over to the bed, sitting down and creating a dip in the mattress next to GIl as the latter relaxed against the cushions once more.

One thing Gil /did/ know was the english alphabet. He knew simple words tog et his point across and decided to try his luck. Reaching out a pale and bony hand, he grasped Matthew's closest one firmly, palm up and used one finger to trace letters onto it. " T." he wrote, all the while focusing on the way Matthew stared down at his hand as though astounded.

It made sense how weirded out the other was, what with taking care of some random kid he found mauled in the forest, then treating his wounds and tending to him and /then/ finding out he was just a bit screwy. His thought process constantly changing from trust, to distrust, welcome to fear. Nonetheless, Gilbert continued to write the few things he knew. " D." He didn't know the word for nice, and so said this instead. He meant it in the nicest way possible, being one of the few compliments he knew. " Y."

Pretty. That word was not used kindly to Gilbert. He'd been called a 'pretty little toy' and far, far worse concerning the word. He knew it was good though. He knew it was to be used with affection as all the best days in which he was tortured the least his keeper had used those taunting words of 'love'. Gilbert wanted the blond to know what he thought. It was frustrating, knowing so little in one language and everything he wanted to say in another. 'Thank you. You're so beautiful.. Why are you helping me? I don't understand. Why am I here? Why do you care and what happened to my keeper?.. Is he dead?' so many more thoughts ran through his mind in clicks and hisses.

Unfortunately the blond was not a mind reader, so Gilbert would simply have to say whatever he could in his kindergardener's knowledge and hope that his eyes showed what he meant. Finally, the blond's violet gaze returned to his and GIl noticed that they probably had a good few years difference. While Gil was 17 as he'd marked on his cave wall, knowing he'd been 4 at the time of his abduction, he figured the other to be 22 or something of the sort. He tilted his head to the side, offering another painful smile that even managed to bare his pointy teeth some.

It was then that Gil noticed the silence. Aside from them, he heard nothing else in the cave-like thing. There was the sound of that strange white creature outside, but the house was empty. He wondered if perhaps the blond before him was just as lonely as he... Just as afraid.

* * *

Matthew continued to shift awkwardly for a moment. He was unsure whether or not the other understood him in the first place especially with the rather blank look he received when he spoke. He didn't realize the younger male was simply in awe of him. It had never happened before so the concept was foreign to him and Matthew didn't expect... anything. He really didn't know what to expect with this stranger so he didn't really expect anything from the other.

He was surprised to find himself staring so blatantly at the albino though. He couldn't help himself. It wasn't for any particular reason; he'd had his time to stare at things he wouldn't dare look at while he was conscious, his hair, lips, the scars. It was simply strange for the fact that he was able to stare at all. He would normally have looked away out of shyness or embarrassment but somehow the person didn't make him feel any of those things. It almost seemed like he was staring so that he didn't miss anything that the other did.

In his staring he caught the others attempt at a smile through his sewn lips. He took it as such, uttering a soft chuckle with a smile of his own, but he could see the pain. Seeing his guest touch the wiring at his lips wiped his smile away almost immediately. "It... can't come off yet..." He mumbled softly. "It has to heal first and then the doctor will have to use special tools to take it off. Something about it being on for too long..." He was apologetic and as much as he wanted to be able to talk to the male and see him smile painlessly he knew the wires had to stay on.

Noting the visible shiver he watched as the other male pulled the blanket up and threw him into confusion soon after. It was strange that he would flinch after doing that and so the blond could only blink in his confusion. If Matthew didn't know any better he would almost say that he was waiting for Matthew to hit him. Of course the thought only made more questions spiral into his mind and he would soon have to write them down if they kept popping up. Deciding that he didn't like the feeling of being feared Matthew decided to try and convey that they were equals somehow. His current position (standing) certainly made him seem more imperious so he chose to sit down next to the albino and that seemed to do the trick in relaxing him. He was pleased but didn't realize the other would be comfortable or trusting enough to touch him.

He didn't pull away or start (though his breath did catch for a moment of uncertainty) but watched as pale white fingers traced patterns into his hand. At first they seemed random but he quickly caught on, muttering each letter as they were spelled. "I... Am Gil...bert? Oh! Gilbert!" He shifted a little and turned a bright smile to Gilbert as he now would call him. And yes, he might have been more than a little excited that they would be able to communicate. He turned his attention back to his hand, unable to wipe the huge smile off his face as he 'read' what was 'written'. "Not... Bad...?" Well... no? His expression turned to one of confusion. Why would the other think that after having been helped? With the final word spelled he realized it wasn't a question, it was a statement, the final word being what he took as a compliment that made him blush lightly. "P-Pretty? Me?" Matthew laughed and shook his head, biting his lip as he now found it very easy not to look at the other. "Thank you; no. Just helpful."

There was a long silence that made Matthew uneasy but he didn't move a muscle. Chancing a glance at Gilbert he saw the curiosity in his ruby irises and desperately wished he knew what the other was thinking. Gilbert himself didn't seem to dwell on it as he was given another smile, earning another soft chuckle from the blond. "Well then, Gilbert. There's not much to do here but you're welcome to... Anything. Feel free to ask anything and if you need or want anything I'll get it for you until you get better." He explained, continuing to make his weak attempt at sign language for the other in case he couldn't fully understand him as well as he hoped.

He was still painfully curious and as such he decided now was as good a time as any to ask questions. Where to start though... "Um.. How... How did you get like this?" He asked, knowing they might be intrusive questions. "You don't have to tell me but... I would like to know what happened." He touched the albino's hand gently with a concerned expression. He was worried. A number of situations ran through his head, each more frightening than the last. It didn't help that he lived in such a remote area by himself either. He feared that whoever, whatever, did this to Gilbert might return.

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**Pooh: Honey and I love to see your guys' feedback, so favourites, follows and reviews light up our day.**


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